MOTO E mobile phone has lost its voice!

For the last couple of days it's been a bit quiet on the mobile phone front, so it was only today that I realised my phone wasn't making any sound at all! No alarms, no SMS, no alerts, no incoming calls... how curious! Checking in the sound settings everything seemed to be OK, volumes were up, sound files selected, so why was there no sound? Initially I suspected a recent Android update but then I decided to check Google before resorting to a factory reset. Lo! it's apparently a known problem with MOTO E, G and X models. Reply #6 explains what the issue is (loss of connection between speaker contacts on the phone) and the suggested fix is slap the phone sharply on the back several times. Thinking this was reminiscent of making sure a baby breathes after birth, I did as suggested, and was amazed to discover that the phone's speaker worked once more and I can now hear alerts, alarms and calls!